RFID: Radio Frequency Identification

by Steven Shepard

Book Overview

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With a predicted $10-billion market over the next decade, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a booming new wireless technology with an eager new audience--retailers. From global giant Wal-Mart down, RFID...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071442995
• ISBN13: 9780071442992
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Ideal for both engineers and managers

A year ago I was only occasionally reading about RFID, and primarily in networking and technology publications. Since then there has been a rapid increase in the frequency of articles on this topic in publications from IEEE Spectrum to the Wall Street Journal. I felt that I needed to quickly get up to speed not only on what RFID is and how it works but, more importantly, what its impacts are, and will be, strategically. Shepard's book satisfies all these needs admirably. This volume provides loads of good information that provided not only the content I was looking for but also a context within which to fully understand the implications. A further bonus was frequently being entertained with real world anecdotes which amplified and clarified the detailed information. This book will satisfy the engineer who needs a thorough overview of RFID-related technologies as well as the manager needing to understand how RFID is and will be influencing business processes and decisions. No matter what your role, if you find the term "RFID" coming up during your day and would like to be on top of the subject-read this book now.

Solid Grounding

Shepard's book is a good read for those who need a solid grounding on the principles of RFID. For me, the historical context and study of interdependent technologies is especially useful. The range of examples that document practical applications will undoubtedly help me separate fact from science fiction in future media reports I read on RFID topics.

Relevant RFID

Finally, an RFID text that is both relevant to a business technology reader (i.e., non-engineering background) and an interesting/quick read -- yet includes ample tech references to appeal to more technically minded readers (though still relatively accessible to all). Appreciated the historical background (and visuals) that provided key background as to how/where the technology evolved (extremely useful in grasping where RFID opportunities lie in the future and how/where to implement -- Shepard does it better than any other I've seen). Likewise, the multiple relevant anecdotes of this technology well-used in various business environments should prove of use to those seeking how to implement RFID in their specific industries.

A great technical read

I have just seen a news report about how a school in Japan is using this new RFID technology to track its students by putting a small tag inside each student's bookpack. Retailing giant Walmart is about to make a similar move by employing the RFID tags to track its inventory. What is this new technology all about? Is it a business opportunity, or an investment opportunity? This book answers these questions and more. This is an excellent book that covers its subject well and also is easy to read. Often technical books are solely about the technology and you wonder why or where or how to use the technology. This book is a wonderful blend where hard business sense meets hard technology and you can come away understanding not just what the technology of RFID is about, but also, and more importantly, how it would fit into your business and why you want it there. This book is basically made up of four parts which break down into the following questions: why, how, what and what next? If you've never heard of RFID, this book will tell you why you might need to know about it, what it is and what it is not, and how it works. The author clearly knows his subject as he carefully explains the pitfalls and roadblocks that one might come up against while implementing such a technology and he points out that careful consideration should be taken whenever introducing new technologies into a business. Do not be scared off by the fact that this is a technical book and talks of bits and bytes. The author has clearly written this for a broad audience that spans from top level decision makers and conceptual planners to the bits and bytes technical person or the casual network reader who want to learn about a new technology. And if you are a techophile only interested in bit and bytes, you may be disappointed that the author doesn't spend enough time actually taking apart the readers and transponders, but there are other engineering books for that. If you are an investor who tracks tech stocks and wonders what RFID is all about, then you're going to love this book.

The Technology and How It Can be Used.

I hate to say this, because it sounds so hokey in a book review, but this is one book I couldn't put down. Well obviously I could put it down, and I did. But I didn't until after I had read the first 54 pages, Part I of the book. Part I of this book talks about some applications of RFID that is stretching the limits of the technology as it exists today. He gives a series of examples of how RFID might be used in the future, along with a history of machine identification in the past. Perhaps my interest comes from the years I worked in that area. But that was some time ago, and RFID was just beginning. Now I see the applications he describes and immediately I think of several others. This kind of overview of where we are trying to go is rare in a technical book, and greatly appreciated. Part II of the book is a description of the current state of the art in RFID. Here is a detailed description of who makes what that you can use to implement what was thought about in Part I. He finally concludes with a short what-if story about a suspect container on a ship headed to an American port. This is straight out of not the headlines, but the comments made by John Kerry during the debates. This is a technology that is coming, that is needed.